Second thoughts

Packers find bricks to be a handy tool

The Green Bay Packers’ wide receiver Randall Cobb
The Green Bay Packers’ wide receiver Randall Cobb

The circus is coming to Green Bay. Or at least a sideshow act.

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The Green Bay Packers’ wide receiver Ty Montgomery

The Green Bay Packers' receivers, under the direction of assistant coach Luke Getsy, are experimenting with a new set of drills to improve their hand-eye coordination, and hopefully, eliminate some dropped passes next season.

Last season, with Jordy Nelson out, Davante Adams and Randall Cobb were forced to step up and take over as the top wideouts. According to ESPN, they each had six dropped passes, tied for the ninth-most in the NFL.

To combat this, the Packers are turning to juggling.

"It helps with just hand-eye coordination," Cobb told ESPN, "and continuing to work on different ways and keeping it fresh. I haven't juggled four yet. I'm working on off the wall with three. It's a process."

Teammate Ty Montgomery has a bit of an edge in the new drills.

"Random fact: I was in juggling club in middle school," Montgomery said. "But I think all of our guys here knew how to already. Actually, I think it's pretty normal for a receiver to see those drills."

It's not just tennis balls that receivers are juggling. They're also using bricks to improve grip strength, as well as footballs, because that's what they have to catch on the gridiron.

"That's actually what I'm going to do right now; I'm going to pick up another brick for tomorrow," Cobb said after breaking one in practice. "But you didn't see that. It wasn't me, either. Don't tell anybody."

So what does head Coach Mike McCarthy make of all this?

"I think it's like anything we do in the fundamentals -- it's applicable to their position, to developing their skill set," McCarthy said. "You have to be a little more creative in the CBA football environment that we're in right now. It's something as a coaching staff you look to be creative and keep it fresh for our players."

Just make sure to have plenty of bricks on hand.

Too soon?

Stay classy, Ole Miss.

A Mississippi baseball fan decided it would be a good idea to taunt Tulane players Saturday during an NCAA tournament elimination game, when the Rebels hosted the Green Wave at Swayze Field in Oxford, Miss.

That's not unusual. Fans always taunt their team's opponents. Sometimes it's funny, sometimes not. This time?

Nola.com reported that before the game, an Ole Miss fan threw a baseball on the field at the Green Wave players. Inscribed on the ball were the words, "I took my Chevy to the levee but the levee was gone..." and "Katrina '06."

Tulane, of course, is based in New Orleans, which was devastated by Hurricane Katrina when the levees there failed. In addition to the distasteful reminder, the fan in question had the wrong year. Katrina tore through New Orleans in 2005.

As if that wasn't enough, the Tulane baseball Twitter account also pointed out that Led Zeppelin's "When the Levee Breaks" was played before first pitch, although that wasn't meant as a dig. According to The Clarion-Ledger (Jackson, Miss.), that song is Ole Miss starter David Parkinson's walkout music, which he's used all season.

Tulane, the tournament's No. 2 seed, handled it pretty well, sending out a tweet -- since deleted -- showing a picture of the ball, with a hashtag saying "#NotEvenTheRightYear," before eliminating the top-seeded Rebels, 6-5, thanks to a ninth-inning home run.

Collectors' item

According to Dwight Perry of the Seattle Times, Topps "Archives Baseball" is honoring the characters of the film Bull Durham" -- including "Nuke" LaLoosh (Tim Robbins), "Crash" Davis (Kevin Costner) and Anne Savoy (Susan Sarandon) -- with seven cards released this month.

Why stop there?

"What, no Bad New Bears rookie set?"

Sports on 06/06/2016

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